                                14.  COMMENTARY.
        
             If motivation is the force that initiates, directs, and
        sustains individual or group behavior in order to satisfy a need
        or to attain a goal, then this inquiry produced volumes of
        theories, concepts, principles, techniques, and methodologies to
        understand what it is and how to motivate human beings.  What is
        important to consider is that this force is unique to each
        individual human being, and there are many forces which drive an
        individual to struggle to achieve a goal or to fulfill a need.
        
             The early researchers believed there was a causal
        relationship between what motivated individuals and each
        attempted to explain how this developed.  Their work was
        primarily based upon animal experimentation, and extrapolating
        their findings to human beings was suspect.  The problem with
        cause-effect interpretations is that so many variables need to be
        considered that isolating any one and predicting this one is the
        factor is almost impossible.  What Freud, Hull, and others
        accomplished was laying the groundwork for later researchers who
        used direct observation of healthy people to discover what
        motivates individuals.  Their cumulative work remains as an
        embodiment of the drive on the part of social scientists to raise
        the level of inquiry into human motivation to a science.  Though
        they did not fully succeed, they did accomplish setting the stage
        for those to follow. 
        
             Maslow's revolutionary work in 1954 broke the clinical and
        experimental barriers which others before him could not.  He was
        the first to demand that psychologists and sociologists study
        healthy people and not neurotics.  He maintained that motivation
        was a function of a healthy person's desire to fulfill basic
        human needs.  All human beings were engaged in this lifelong
        process and only when they died did it end.  The progression from
        safety and survival needs to the final, need for self-
        actualization created a motivational definition which effectively
        described the gamut of human endeavors to meet needs.  His theory
        of self-actualization precipitated a flurry of scholarly and
        clinical work in an attempt to validate his theories.  His
        comprehensive description of the self-actualized person, based
        upon the research of his contemporaries and his own clinical and
        real-life observations, provided the Post-War era with a
        meaningful, easily understood, structure of the basic
        motivational patterns of normal human beings.  He believed that
        self-actualization was the need all human beings strived to fill.
        Some individuals would if the environment, their own desire to
        succeed, and other safety, love, and esteem needs were met
        simultaneously.  A predictable ebb and flow would unfold in
        anyone's life because of the day to day situations which affected
        the meeting of the prepotent needs.  What is fascinating about
        the concept of self-actualization is that the potential for all
        people to meet this need was predicted.  Maslow did not
        discriminate against anyone.  He applied his theory generically
        to all human beings.  His 1970 revision of his original theories
        promoted them even more.  He believed that the world in 1970
        needed an infusion of self-actualizing information to precipitate
        more in-depth research into his hypotheses.
        
             Intrinsic motivation, or doing something just for the joy of
        doing it, is an interesting construct.  Unlike extrinsic
        motivation, which is the motivation to perform a task or achieve
        a goal with some external reward in mind, intrinsic motivation
        develops in the affective domain.  It is difficult to measure and
        therefore, sometimes easily misinterpreted by those who are not
        prone to be motivated by it.  Most humans are extrinsically
        motivated to achieve, produce, or work toward some goal for a
        reward.  This was certainly supported by Maslow.  The hungry man
        or woman will scrounge for food if hunger predominates their
        lives.  If a person feels unsafe, he or she will do anything
        necessary, including fight and possibly kill, to meet safety
        needs.  What then motivates the artist, the writer, the human
        with any creative force active in them, to forego eating,
        sleeping, and other physiological needs just to produce their
        works of art?  This is where intrinsic motivational theory can be
        applied.  There is something more than meeting an extrinsic need
        that intrinsically motivates creative and other highly productive
        people.  What is this innate factor?  Researchers are not sure. 
        Many propositions exist.  Some believe that it is the joy of
        doing alone that motivates individuals.  Yet, what causes this
        joy to surface in one person and not in another?  How can
        intrinsic motivation be created in individuals?  How can it be
        measured, studied, replicated, and instilled in others?  Or can
        it?  All these questions remain to be answered in the years
        ahead.  
        
             One of the simplest ways I found in determining what
        motivated the clients and staff members I work with is to just
        ask them.  What motivates you to do what you are doing, I ask. 
        Interestingly enough, most people experience a difficult time in
        answering this question.  Generally, I find that those
        individuals are usually low-motivated people.  Those who can
        answer the question without much thought are usually highly
        motivated people.  They need little time because they have
        pondered this question themselves somewhere in their lives.  If
        they describe some external reward as their primary motivating
        factor, naturally, I would assess they are extrinsically
        motivated individuals.  In my work, I find a mix of types.  Those
        who remain in the field for many years not rising in the power
        structure and making a living but not extravagant wage, are
        intrinsically motivated individuals.  
        
             Another strategy I use to determine what motivates my
        colleagues is to ask, "If you had the economic security that your
        present job provides you, what would you be doing with your life
        today?  Would you be here, doing what you are doing, or would you
        be doing something quite different?"  Responses again vary and
        yet, what I find is that about 50% of the people I work with
        state they would do just what they are doing right now.  
        
             Lastly, when I asked, "If you hit the lottery for a million
        today, what would you be doing tomorrow?"  Now this question
        usually causes some guffaws.  However, once we get beyond its
        hypothetical condition, many individuals stated they would
        continue to do just what they are doing.  True, they might take
        more vacations, pay a few bills, and maybe fix up things in their
        homes that needed fixed.  In the end, they wouldn't change their
        lives all that much.  These individuals I would label as being
        intrinsically motivated to perform the kind of stressful work we
        do.  A few stated they would quit immediately, move to places
        like Florida or other points south and west, and retire forever
        and never have to be told what to do again.  I have no data to
        support the 50% projection that divides my colleagues equally
        between either being extrinsic and intrinsically motivated.   
        
             These three questions do provide me with information which
        makes it easier for me to understand how to motivate an
        individual to perform up to his or her potential.  I admit they
        are not complicated questions, and in some ways, I believe the
        reason why people readily answer them is for that very reason.  
        
             Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation are interesting but
        simple constructs and provide some means to understand human
        motivation.  However, they are not comprehensive enough to fully
        determine what and how to motivate humans, and therefore, the
        inquiry into what motivates human beings needs to continue. 
        
             Since the founding of our nation, the protestant work ethic
        (PWE) served as one motivating principle that guided the American
        work force.  Until recently, with the advent of the information
        age and the "Third Wave" (Toffler, 1980), it worked well in
        describing what motivated humans to achieve at optimal levels. 
        The dynamics occurring in the last five years caused many
        researchers to wonder if the PWE was slowly dying.  What
        motivated individuals for the past 100 years did not seem to be
        in effect any longer.  New factors were emerging.  Where once job
        security and a good salary were viewed as necessary extrinsic
        motivating factors for many people, these were no longer as
        important as certain intrinsic factors that were difficult to
        measure but certainly in effect.  Some researchers believed the
        PWE was in a transition stage, and would return once these
        socioeconomic changes leveled off.  Others did not think so.  
        
             Today, the PWE receives lip-service from industrial age
        leaders who do not accept the civilization is evolving into a new
        and quite unique form.  In many ways, the conflict described by
        Toffler (1980) between the supporters of industrial age beliefs
        and the new information age proponents is one reason the PWE is
        in such flux.  Where once the primary motivating tools used by
        industrialists was money, status, prestige, in the information
        age, these were becoming less important.  Quality of life, joy in
        the work being done, and more recreation time and less work
        related responsibilities all added together to dethrone the PWE
        as a primary 1990's motivating factor.  Loyalty to a company used
        to be a condition that existed as part of the industrial age. 
        Working for one company throughout an individual's work life
        disappeared.  Currently, the average length of seniority for all
        companies in America is approximately 2.8 years of service. 
        Projecting this average into a 21 year old individual's work
        life, he or she could possibly hold at least 10 to 13 different
        jobs in a life time.  True, the PWE might motivate the individual
        to optimally perform in each job, but I imagine this would be
        highly unlikely.  
        
             The PWE is being ethnically challenged.  America is becoming
        more diverse now than it was in the early 19th Century.  In the
        last decade, Spanish-speaking, hispanic, latinos, East Asian, and
        other diverse groups of people rapidly immigrated to the western
        shores and a new "melting" process began.  The current dilemma
        that Haitians are facing is just one more factor which assaults
        the PWE.  As more and more nationalities blend into the culture,
        there is little hope that a work ethic which was primarily    
        occidental in nature, would eventually disappear as oriental
        beliefs and behaviors spread across the land.  
        
             Perhaps the PWE is in flux or it is in its demise.  As a
        motivating factor it still drives a part of the American populace
        to pursue goals and objectives with sometimes careless abandon. 
        In the next decade this construct will face continued challenge
        as the immigration continues. 
        
             The self-motivation theories added another dimension into
        the inquiry to explain human motivation.  Bandler and Grinder
        laid the foundation for individual self-development by creating
        neuro-linguistic programming or NLP.  They believed that all
        human experience was anchored in the body, and by accessing these
        anchors via the VAK (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic) channels,
        the individual could relocate the anchors and change human
        experience.  Mann (1987) simplified some of their theories and
        created another self-motivational system he called, Triggers. 
        Though his techniques were not much different than Bandler and
        Grinder's, he did simplify the techniques an individual could use
        to motivate himself to change behaviors, attitudes, beliefs,
        physical health, the ability to learn, phobias, and other
        barriers which impeded his achieving his potential.  Robbins
        (1985), in describing his philosophy of personal power, added
        another dimension to the burgeoning self-motivation
        methodologies.  
        
             These theories appeal to many people who resist the notion
        that they must go to a counselor, therapist, psychiatrist, to
        effect some change in their lives.  The possibility of changing
        individual behavior without external assistance is not only
        attractive but for many on a limited budget, economically
        prudent.  Few can afford the cost of professional help.  The
        Robbins tapes cost $49.  Bandler and Grinder's four books, all in
        paperback, can be purchased for less than $75.  Mann's text cost
        only $24.  All three would cost less than a couple of hours spent
        with a licensed psychologist.  Given the choice, most
        individuals, truly desirous of making changes in their lives,
        would happily purchase them and begin the change process.  
        
             As the new century approaches, more self-motivation theories
        will emerge as the PWE and other more traditional motivating
        factors decline, and the information age reduces the cost of
        acquiring and using newly developed theories.  What will these
        theories espouse?  Only time will tell, but it is exciting to
        consider the possibilities of new and more effective methods and
        practices to motivate human beings to achieve to their potential
        in a new and different information age.   
        
             The complexity of the human being does not permit a
        simplistic definition for what motivates him to achieve. 
        However, combining all these theories together and taking the
        best from each can assist the researcher in understanding
        motivation from many perspectives.  
        
             How can these theories help to motivate a person to achieve
        to his or her potential?  This is the essential question that all
        these theories hoped to achieve.
        
             The environment, K, and innate drives do impact the
        motivation of the individual.  If the environment from which the
        individual comes is rich and supportive, motivation to achieve is
        almost assured.  If there is an innate drive, or an intrinsic
        motivational factor present in the individual, along with an
        environment which is like the one described above, then the
        motivation is further enhanced.  This is not enough however, to
        ensure that motivation will be present because within any type of
        environment there are motivated and unmotivated individuals.  By
        itself, K, does not provide a complete picture of the
        motivational patterns necessary for the individual to achieve to
        his potential.
        
             D, drive, and H, habit, also support motivational patterns. 
        When the drive is present to achieve at a high level, then the
        individual is apt to be motivated to excel.  Habits which contain
        drives that are healthy and unsolidified make it possible for the
        individual to achieve at a higher level.    
        
             It would be simplistic to believe that the PWE is enough of
        a motivating factor to cause individuals to perform to their
        utmost in work and leisure activities.  What is missing in this
        theory is the translation effect.  It contended that from
        grandfather, to father, and then to son and great grandson, the
        ethic was passed on like blue eyes and blonde hair.  In the late
        1980's the PWE lost its impetus.  The industrial age was coming
        to a close and a new age, based upon information management and
        service industries, was rapidly overwhelming the old guard.  Job
        insecurity, economic downturns and recessions, elimination of the
        production of hard goods for services, all contributed to the
        demise of a civilization that founded itself on pride in working
        hard for extrinsic rewards.
        
             Out of all these theories, only Maslow's transcends time and
        place.  Even though the industrial age is dying and the
        information age is asserting itself, individuals will continue to
        strive toward self-actualization as he described it.  What makes
        his hypothesis so appealing is the notion that the individual is
        in a dynamic state of change.  When survival needs are met, their
        prepotency is eliminated and then safety needs become dominant. 
        Once these are satisfied, then the next level of needs are
        sought, and this continues until the need for self-actualization
        is fulfilled.  In any type of civilization, his theory fits.  
        
             In the agrarian age, farmers sought to grow crops and
        eliminate the need to live a nomadic existence.  The self-
        actualized farmer was the individual who not only produced enough
        goods for himself and his family, but was able to produce enough
        for others.  This manifested itself in this century when the
        American farm worker became the provider for the world.  As our
        industrial complex grew, the American worker produced goods which
        were the envy of the world.  
        
             Our mass production systems were copied by all the first
        world nations and even to this day, serve as models for nations
        struggling to industrialize.  American workers achieved a level
        of self-actualization unknown before in the modern world.  Though
        many of the rewards for hard work were extrinsic, there was an
        inherent pride that caused men and women to proudly display the
        symbol, Made in the U.S.A..  
        
             Now, the information age is spawning a new concept of what
        work is and how an individual can feel self-actualized within its
        dynamic structure.  Entrepreneurs like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs
        and Steve Wozniak in the computer industry are just a couple of
        examples of the new information age leaders who are returning to
        America a sense of pride in producing state of the art
        technologies that are affecting the entire global economy as well
        as communication.  Within these hard and software industries, men
        and women are engaged in creation, reproduction, problem solving,
        and achieving self-actualization.
        
             These are exciting times in which we live.  True, there are
        problems in all areas of the world that need to be eradicated. 
        Crime in our streets, poverty, homelessness, alcohol and other
        drug addiction, and health care deficiencies are just a few which
        affect America.  Global issues are more complex and not
        necessarily under the control of America, the one superpower that
        still exists, even though we would like to believe we are still
        able to impact global thinking and behavior.  Until nations like
        Russia and the other Soviet bloc nations solve their economic and
        social issues, the world will not be safe for democracy. 
        Nations, like people, can self-actualize, yet there is little
        evidence that these nations and hundreds more like them will
        achieve this in the near future.  Without a supportive
        environment where survival and safety are present, national self-
        actualization is unlikely.  Inside these nations, there are many
        people still living at the survival and safety levels and will
        remain there for what appears to be an entire generation.     
        
             All this impacts the inquiry into human motivation?  In each
        nation there are those people who role model self-actualization. 
        In Maslow's (1970) description of the self-actualized individual,
        he indicated that they are a rare group and tend to seek out one
        another.  If a nation possesses few of this type of individuals,
        it will be difficult for others to find and model themselves
        after them.  What we find in our search is a group of individuals
        who are less inhibited, constricted, bound, enculturated than
        their peers.  They are more spontaneous, natural, and human.  If
        there were no choking enculturating forces in our society, we
        might expect that all human beings would demonstrate this special
        type of creativeness, ultimately resulting in living fully self-
        actualized (Anderson, 1959; Maslow, 1958).  
        
             This leads to the question, how do the self-motivation
        strategies of Bandler and Grinder, Mann, Robbins, and a host of
        other neo-psychologists affect the development of self-actualized
        individuals?  Or do they?  
        
             Their work is certainly unique and thought provoking.  NLP,
        Triggers, and Personal Power are new constructs having existed
        for less than fifteen years.  Theirs, like many others, purport
        they can prompt change faster than most of the other theories,
        and that is precipitating a whole generation of self-actualizing
        human beings.  
        
             It is too early to tell if this self-motivation movement
        will impact America or any other First World nation.  There are
        many questions that need to be asked first:
             1.   Do the theories really work or are they merely rehashed
                  theories of Freud, Hull, Maslow, and other
                  psychologists and psychiatrists?
             2.   How will we measure whether or not they are working?
             3.   What kind of outcome would be produced if a predominant
                  part of a nation were to become self-actualized?
             4.   How will individuals be motivated to participate in
                  self-motivation programs, workshops, learning
                  experiences?
             5.   Who will pay for it?
             6.   Is self-actualization something that is worth pursuing
                  or is it merely a psychological construct, a pipe dream
                  that only the "chosen few" will ever achieve, and only
                  for brief periods of time in their lives?
             7.   What kind of personality type is most apt to pursue the
                  path toward self-actualization?  
        
             All these questions will need to be researched further
        before any definitive answers will be available for any of us to
        decide how we may want to change our lives.  The last question is
        the one of greatest interest to me.
        
             Understanding the nature of the self-actualized human being
        leads me to question whether or not there are certain types of
        people who are more apt to consistently meet this need throughout
        their lifetime?  How do they achieve this heightened state of
        being?  Is it something intrinsically motivated or is it a
        function of the need for self-actualization?  How does level of
        learning affect self-actualization?  Or does it?  What
        personality type, as measured by Myers-Briggs, is most apt to
        become a self-actualized person in his or her lifetime?  
         
             The inquiry into human motivation is exciting because it
        attempts to define what is the essence of the prime mover in
        human behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs.  Throughout each period
        of human endeavor there existed on the sidelines individuals who
        asked, what motivates those who achieve at the highest levels and
        realize their own human potential?  Perhaps, what is beneath the
        surface, like the DNA which determines our genetic makeup, is a
        personality type that is predestined to achieve at a higher
        level.  This would tend to discount the work of the self-
        motivation theorists who maintain that anyone can motivate him or
        herself to achieve at the highest levels.  In my review of
        literature, I could not find any research which attempted to
        answer this question.  
        
             Definitions of motivation, how people motivate themselves,
        factors in motivated and unmotivated behavior, and a plethora of
        other areas were studied.  It would be daring to propose that
        there are some individuals more likely to become self-actualized
        individuals based solely on their personality type.  
        
             This inquiry would not be an attempt to determine if one
        person is more prone to self-actualize than another because he or
        she is a better person.  On the contrary, it would attempt to
        determine if there is any connection between an individual's
        personality type and his or her tendency to fulfill the need to
        become self-actualized. 
        
             The belief that human beings can heal themselves prompted an
        entire generation of inquiry into human psychology.
        
             The belief that human beings can motivate themselves
        subsequently prompted a new movement toward developing self-
        motivation systems that can elevate ordinary lives into
        extraordinary ones.
        
             The belief that human beings can achieve a self-actualized
        existence if they are a certain personality type can add to the
        body of human knowledge regarding the connection between
        personality type and the potential for self-actualizing
        behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs.
        
             As the ancient cartographers once wrote on maps of the known
        world where the oceans ended and the unknown began, "There, be
        dragons." 
        
             Preparing to tread beyond the scope of current inquiry
        related to motivation is both exciting and frightening.  What if
        there is no connection between personality type and self-
        actualization?  What if there is no one personality type that
        achieves any higher or more consistent level of actualization in
        his or her lifetime?  Would the inquiry be meaningless?  Would it
        be a waste of time?
        
             I believe that any inquiry related to human motivation that
        attempts to further define how it works, for whom it works best,
        and how it can be used to enhance change in human beings is a
        worthy pursuit.
        
             Even if "There be dragons" in this search, I accept the
        challenge to look beyond the horizon. 
        
             All that is left to do, is, "Just do it."
